Still Pouring!!!

Well, an even bigger storm hit the Smith front this past week. A tsunami to be exact! We honestly can't seem to catch a break. January has probably been one of the hardest months Rob and I have been through emotionally and financially. We have hit a huge trial and are hoping to stay afloat. We are trying to stay positive...but to be honest...this SUCKS!!! I know some of our friends are going through the same struggles and I want you to know we feel your pain! A couple of things have happened in the past week that made me realize that life is so fragile. The life as you know it can change drastically in a mere second! It's honestly scary!
All we can do is try and stay strong and lean on one another as we try to get through this. I am so grateful for families! I love my husband and my boys more than anything else in the world. I am grateful for our immediate and extended families who give us unconditional love and support. I am so glad that January is over and a new month has begun! We are hoping that the last 11 months of 2009 are better to us than the first month has been. Here's to a new month and hopefully some better luck!

New Do and My Sweet Little Ham!

I'm posting about two subjects that make me smile. Mainly to try and make up for the depressing day I've had so far. Last week we went and got Wesley's hair cut. It was getting SO long! I normally cut it myself, but I wanted to try a different cut on him. It's not a huge change, but there isn't much of a selection when it comes to Wesley's hair. It's pretty thin and it dries straight up. I decided to try a faux hawk hair cut. I personally think it's pretty cute. These pictures don't really show his new do very well...but what do you think?
And for the second subject...My Beckett Boo! Just recently his cute little personality has come alive! I like to call him my little Ham. Yesterday after he woke up from his afternoon nap, I brought him into the living room to play with some toys. I decided to grab the camera since I haven't taken very many pictures of him lately. He was totally being a cheese ball. He would pull the cutest pictures every time I took a picture. He really can be such a sweet baby at times. I am so grateful he is part of our family. He always brightens my day!

Draper Temple

This last Saturday we went to the Draper Temple open house with my family. What a neat experience! The only other temple open house that I have been to was for the Bountiful Temple when I was younger. This open house was really significant because Rob actually worked on some of the woodwork in the Temple. The temple was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! All temples are beautiful, but I loved how this one had a more modern feel to it than most of the other temples in Utah that I have been to. I loved the color schemes and fabrics that they used throughout the temple. The stone on the outside of the temple was imported from China, the limestone used on the inside was imported from France, and they used African Cherry wood imported from Africa. Probably my most favorite part of the temple was the baptistery. It was absolutely breathtaking!!! My second most favorite part was the Celestial Room. It had a huge vaulted ceiling. I don't think I have ever seen a ceiling so tall in any of the other celestial rooms I have been in. It went up and up and up. If you were wondering, Rob worked on the armrests and side paneling on the chairs in the ordinance rooms, on the paneling on some of the alters, and the side paneling on the benches in the chapel. They were beautifully done!

We were really hoping to take Wesley, but I absentmindedly scheduled our tickets right in the middle of his nap time. And after hearing that it usually took 2-3 hours to stand in line, watch the short video, and take the tour through the temple, we decided to leave him home. Hopefully we can take him to the Oquirrh Mountain open house when it's finished. There was such a special spirit inside the temple. I am so grateful for temples and the amazing spirit inside them. I feel so blessed to live so close to 2 almost 4 operating temples. When we got back from out trip back east, Rob and I made a goal to go to the temple twice a month. We have kept that goal so far and hope to throughout the rest of this year. I think the temple open house just started this last week, if you don't have tickets already...I really suggest that you get some and go. It was an amazing experience!

This kid makes me smile!!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

When it rains...it POURS!!!

It has been raining at the Smith household for the past couple of weeks. And it's not just a little drizzling rain...it's a complete down pour! Down pours don't happen very often around here, but when they do, it's BAD! And this down pour couldn't have happened at a better time. Here are a couple of things that are weighing us down:


1. In the past two weeks we have come to the realization that my car needs all four tires replaced and in the near future it's windshield replaced. It has a big crack in it that keeps spreading. (just a side note, my car just had tires and the windshield replaced two years ago).

2. We just found out that something in Rob's car's transmission is coming apart and that his transmission needs to be taken apart and put completely back together. They gave us an estimate of anywhere between $1700 - $4000. We were planning on buying a bigger car in the next few months, so we aren't sure if we want to pay out that much money if we aren't going to keep the car.

3. Both of our cars need to be registered this month, and my car needs an inspection and it probably won't pass without new tires.

4. This isn't a big expense, but all of my hair tools (blow dryer, flat iron, and curling iron) are falling apart or just plain don't work anymore.

It seems like every other day or so we hear bad news, an unexpected expense comes up, or something bad happens or goes wrong. This year is not starting out as a good year for us, but we're hoping it will turn around soon.


On the upside of things...I am so happy that I finally went to the doctor for my foot and it has almost completely healed already! For those of you that don't know, one of my new year's resolutions or goals is to become a runner. This is a GINORMOUS goal for me and I hope that I can stick to it and achieve my goal. My injured foot was putting a major damper on things, but it's feeling better and I'm happily moving on! I also started a running blog to log my runs and track my weight loss and training. Check it out sometime!

We're trying to stay optimistic and hope that the storm blows over soon!

Life off...Game On!

Last night we took Wesley to his first "offical" jazz game. I use the word offical because it wasn't his first time to a game. We took him a couple of times when he was a baby, but this was his first game since he was 9 months old. We were a little hesitant about taking him. We didn't think he would sit through the whole game, or if he would even be interested in the game at all. When we first got there it was like he was a deer in headlights. He didn't quite know what to think about the whole thing. He seemed a little overwhelmed. When the Jazz Bear first came out on his Harley, he was a little scared of how loud it was. But he shortly got over it and was in HEAVEN! He clapped and cheered and couldn't stop smiling! He was obsessed with the Jazz Bear and constantly asked where he went. It was a fun night and one I think Wes will remember for a little while. Eating NachosDuring half time we went and wished Grandpa a Happy Birthday while he took a break from his hard work of keeping stats. Showing off the balls he got.
Our good friend Nikki also came along for the fun.

New Years 2009

I can't believe we are already to 2009! Time sure does fly. We had a fabulous New Years this year. We spent New Years Eve with our friends, the Robinsons. New Years Day we went bowling with my family. It was so much fun! This was only Wesley's second time bowling, and the first was a complete disaster. So we were a little worried at first because he didn't quite like taking turns, but in the end he caught on and had a great time.

After bowling we headed to my parents house to play the wii. We spent the rest of the night finding out that most of us were considered overweight and obese on wii fit and playing rock band. We had such a great time! Thanks to my mom and dad for treating us all to bowling and letting us crash their party the rest of the night. We hope everyone had a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Here are some pictures from the bowling alley: